[[!meta title="Google Summer of Code project proposals"]]
NetBSD participated successfully in all of Google's Summer of Code
programs to date (see our results of
[2005](http://www.netbsd.org/foundation/press/soc-summary.html),
[2006](http://www.netbsd.org/foundation/press/soc2006-summary.html),
[2007](http://www.netbsd.org/foundation/press/soc2007-summary.html),
[2008](http://www.netbsd.org/foundation/press/soc2008-summary.html),
[2009](http://www.netbsd.org/foundation/press/soc2009.html),
[2010](http://blog.netbsd.org/tnf/entry/google_summer_of_code_2010),
[2011](http://blog.netbsd.org/tnf/entry/netbsd_s_google_summer_of)) and
we are planning of applying again as a mentoring organization in 2012.
This page contains a list of concrete suggestions for projects we would
like to see applications for in the next Summer of Code. Note that they
vary a lot in required skills and difficulty. We hope to get applications
with a broad spectrum.
In addition, you may wish to discuss your proposal on IRC -- look for us on
Freenodes #netbsd-code or for pkgsrc-related discussions, #pkgsrc. If you
want to just meet the community, visit #netbsd.
We encourage you to come up with your own suggestions, if you cannot find a
suitable project here. You can find more project ideas on the
[[NetBSD projects page|projects]]). These are not directly applicable to
Summer-of-Code, but may serve as ideas for your own suggestions. You might
find other ideas in
[src/doc/TODO](http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/src/doc/TODO?rev=HEAD&content-type=text/x-cvsweb-markup)
and
[pkgsrc/doc/TODO](http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/pkgsrc/doc/TODO?rev=HEAD&content-type=text/x-cvsweb-markup).
Deadlines and directions for students' applications to the Google
Summer-of-Code can be found
[on the Google pages](http://code.google.com/soc/).
# Application process
To make the job of sorting out proposals and applications for
NetBSD-related projects, e.g. in the Google Summer-of-Code, easier for us,
there are a few questions that we would like to see answered.
If you are interested in working on any of the projects below, please
contact the mailing list referenced on each item, and possibly answer as
many questions from our [[project application guidelines|application]] as
possible. The interested developers will be glad to respond to you there.
**Please note that Google Summer-of-Code projects are a full (day-) time
job.**
A positive mid-term evaluation is only possible if usable code has been
committed by that time. Make sure your schedule allows for this.
# Kernel-level projects
## Easy
[[!map show="title" pages="projects/project/* and tagged(status:active) and tagged(gsoc) and tagged(category:kernel) and tagged(difficulty:easy)"]]
## Medium
[[!map show="title" pages="projects/project/* and tagged(status:active) and tagged(gsoc) and tagged(category:kernel) and tagged(difficulty:medium)"]]
## Hard
[[!map show="title" pages="projects/project/* and tagged(status:active) and tagged(gsoc) and tagged(category:kernel) and tagged(difficulty:hard)"]]
# Userland projects
## Easy
[[!map show="title" pages="projects/project/* and tagged(status:active) and tagged(gsoc) and tagged(category:userland) and tagged(difficulty:easy)"]]
## Medium
[[!map show="title" pages="projects/project/* and tagged(status:active) and tagged(gsoc) and tagged(category:userland) and tagged(difficulty:medium)"]]
## Hard
[[!map show="title" pages="projects/project/* and tagged(status:active) and tagged(gsoc) and tagged(category:userland) and tagged(difficulty:hard)"]]
# pkgsrc projects
## Easy
[[!map show="title" pages="projects/project/* and tagged(status:active) and tagged(gsoc) and tagged(category:pkgsrc) and tagged(difficulty:easy)"]]
## Medium
[[!map show="title" pages="projects/project/* and tagged(status:active) and tagged(gsoc) and tagged(category:pkgsrc) and tagged(difficulty:medium)"]]
## Hard
[[!map show="title" pages="projects/project/* and tagged(status:active) and tagged(gsoc) and tagged(category:pkgsrc) and tagged(difficulty:hard)"]]
# Comments
We are trying to be fair; expect easy projects to require less knowledge and skill, but quite a bit of work.
Medium and hard projects are hard enough to qualify as practical part of a master's thesis (it'll qualify as thesis topic if you can add sufficient quality theoretical parts). We had the honor to mentor several in past GSoCs. Talk to your adviser(s) if and how you can claim academic credit for the project you do with us.
We have not yet failed a student who worked hard and actually talked (and listened) to their mentors and the community. If unexpected roadblocks make your project goals too hard to reach in the time given, the goals can be re-negotiated. They will not be for rampant slacking, though.
What we expect from contributors (both GSoC students and generally) is that they cooperate, that they are able to communicate (this will mean some English skills, sorry), and that they meet a minimum of good manners towards other people on our lists and other venues. Note that being a specific color, gender, nationality, religion, etc is not listed: If you are willing and able to contribute in a constructive manner, you are welcome.